The Best Healthy and Easy Mac and Cheese Recipe

This creamy vegetable-based (NO butternut squash!) healthy and easy mac and cheese recipe is the last macaroni recipe you’ll ever need, take it from a mac and cheese connoisseur! Kids will love it too, they won’t be able to tell that the cheese sauce is cheese-free. Vegan + gluten-free + dairy-free.

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Mac and cheese is by far, my all-time favorite food!

My love for it started when I was just a wee little lass. I had no idea it would follow me into adulthood, but here we are. It’s comfort food, pure and simple.

I’ve never tried a mac and cheese that I didn’t like.

Wait, I take that back.

The first time that I tried to make it from scratch on my own was a huge fail! I didn’t know how to make a roux, I didn’t season the water for the noodles…it was a disaster. I ended up hungry and still craving mac and cheese with a sink full of dirty pots and pans. Ugh.

I’ve come a long way since then, mainly because I’m transitioning to being a full-time vegan, so I’ve pretty much cut cheese out of my diet.

For a mac and cheese lover, cutting out cheese is like cutting off my right hand. Nooooo, I need cheese! What am I going to do?! How will I get my comfort food fix?

I started out slowly by making butternut squash mac which cut the amount of cheese in half and substituted butternut squash for the rest. It was delicious but I needed to get rid of the rest of the cheese. I loved the butternut squash sauce but it just didn’t reheat that well. It would dry out and not stay saucy like mac an cheese should be.

I needed to try again.

The BEST Healthy and Easy Mac and Cheese Recipe

I’m so glad that I failed the first time and tried again because I ended up making the best vegan cheese sauce that I poured over (another childhood favorite) broccoli stuffed purple sweet potatoes! The sauce reheats really well, and with a bit of water, it’s just as smooth and creamy as the first time you make it.

I scratched the butternut squash and used potatoes and cashews instead to make it extra creamy + a couple carrots to give it the traditional yellow color.

I’ve had so much success using cashews in recipes that call for cheese, I just knew it would work in this easy mac and cheese recipe too. If you’re nut-free, don’t fret! I’ve also made this recipe using chickpeas in place of the cashews and it was just as delicious!

This veggie-loaded easy mac and cheese recipe will hit the spot and then some. It’s just as delicious as the cheesy comfort food I craved when I was little.

I promise you, the kids won’t even notice a difference! You can feel so much better about feeding them this healthy macaroni and cheese recipe instead of the processed junk version.

Healthy and Easy Mac and Cheese Recipe Notes:

Whole grain dijon mustard is my favorite but DO NOT use it for this recipe, make sure you use a regular dijon mustard so you won’t see the little flecks in the sauce. I ran out of my regular dijon and only had the whole grain on hand. The sauce tastes the same but the kiddos might notice the flecks of color.

If you’re nut-free, you can substitute a 1/2 cup of drained and rinsed chickpeas or cannellini beans. For some reason, the color of the sauce will be more orange rather than yellow but if that bothers you, you can substitute unsweetened coconut milk (or any white nut milk) so the sauce will have a more yellow color like in the pictures.

You don’t have to use gluten-free noodles, you can use any whole wheat, quinoa, rice– or whatever your favorite variety is.

When you reheat the leftover (if there are any!) add a little bit of water or veggie broth to help loosen up the sauce.

Looks great. We’ll try it tonight for dinner. I have one question – after cooking the potatoes and onions, do I drain them or use the starchy water with the extra vegetable broth when I blend them with the spices and chickpeas/cashews? Thznks

Thank you, Penny! I only had a very small amount of water left in the pan after I cooked the potatoes and carrots but I did use a slotted spoon to scoop them out so I didn’t blend the cooking water into the sauce. Hope that helps, enjoy! =)

Hi, Sarah! I haven’t tried baking it so I can’t tell you for sure. However, if you do it I would add breadcrumbs and cover it with foil while it is baking (not too long) so it doesn’t dry out and then put it under the broiler for 1-2 min just to brown the crumbs.

I’ll try baking it the next time I make it and I’ll update the post! Let me know how it turns out if you try baking it, okay?! =)

Omg! I’ve tried so many vegan cheese sauces now and this is by far the best. I originally used oil to sautée the onions and was afraid to omit it, but did today and sautéed the onions in veggie broth and it tasted exactly the same. I’ve made the sauce 3X in the last 2 weeks and use the sauce as an additional accompaniment to chips and salsa, on veggies etc. No one believes me their is no cheese in it. I did add about 4-5 tablespoons of nutritional yeast just to intensify the cheesy flavor. Great recipe and thank you!!!

Thank you so much for commenting, Jennifer! I’m so glad to hear that you like the mac and cheese, it’s my all-time favorite comfort food recipe! None of my friends or family can tell there’s no cheese in it either!

I tried this recipe and it looked nothing like the picture. Not sure where I went wrong. I used chick peas instead of cashews. Was I supposed to soak the chic peas? The sauce turned out more of a purée than a sauce, I kept adding veggie broth but it never looked the same consistency as the picture of the sauce. Any suggestions? Also, my sauce was very orange and I did not add any extra carrots.

Hello! I’m so sorry the recipe didn’t turn out for you. I’ve made it with chickpeas before and while the sauce is a little bit thicker, you should be able to get it to a sauce-like consistency with additional vegetable broth.

Did you use a high-powered blender? If your blender isn’t strong enough it won’t break down the chickpeas enough to make the sauce smooth and creamy so maybe that’s why it’s more puree-like.

It’s also possible that the carrots you used were larger than the ones I used so you mac has a more intense orange color. Since you aren’t using cashews, I would try substituting/adding 1/4 of unsweetened coconut milk for vegetable broth. The white coconut milk should help to lighten the orange sauce. Let me know if that helps!

Hi, thank you! I’m so glad you like it! If you have a processor/blender that can handle hot food then sure! I wait until they’re cool because my nutribullet doesn’t have a steam release. Once I tried to blend hot tomatoes for soup and it ended up all over me and the kitchen. Never again!

I want to start by saying I am a newer vegan (6 months) who always craves cheese. I will put in the work and time to make a vegan mac and cheese in order to get it just right. I tried this in hopes of it tasting perfect, and was a bit discouraged. I followed the recipe to the “T”, and although the sauce did taste good, it was hard to call it cheese. I altered it a bit and added a bunch more nutritional yeast, which for sure helped, and found myself adding a lot more salt, paprika, and another teaspoon of dijon. I got a little creative and added a large dollop of vegan cream cheese into the pan, which absolutely helped. Don’t get me wrong, this was the best cheese sauce recipe I’ve tried, and I loved that it was relatively healthy. I will keep this recipe with some additions, since it was truly flavorful. Definitely will make it again, and is for sure worth it.

I am going to try this for my grandson he is gluten, dairy and dye free. We have been buying a gluten free and dairy free Mac and cheese for him, very expensive. He does love Mac and cheese.
I am planning on using almond milk and chick peas. Will this freeze up well?

1) Make sure you use unsweetened almond milk.
2) If you make the sauce with chickpeas you may need to add additional almond milk to thin the sauce out a bit. I’ve gotten some feedback that said the chickpeas make the sauce a bit thicker than when it’s made with the cashews.
3) I haven’t tried freezing the mac yet so I can’t tell you for sure, my husband practically inhales it every time I make it. If you do freeze it, make sure to add almond milk or water so it doesn’t dry out when you reheat it.